50 Years of Who - Every Great Decision Creates Ripples

After Colin Baker's unceremonious firing, Sylvester McCoy took over as the Seventh Doctor. Initially depicted as clown-like character, McCoy and new script editor Andrew Cartmel quickly began working to bring mystery and darker shadings back to the Doctor. Over his tenure, the Seventh Doctor morphed into a manipulative master-planner, not above deliberately misleading or keeping secrets from his allies to ensure victory. During this time, Cartmel also took a different approach to the role of the companion. Ace was a troubled young girl from 20th Century Perivale that the Doctor first encountered  on another planet in the far future. How she got there was a bit of a mystery, and in Season 26 there was an extended arc where the purpose of several stories was not just your standard adventure, but a deliberate attempt by the Doctor to help Ace move past her troubles and become a better person. This approach foreshadowed the more emotional tone the Doctor/Companion relationship would take on in future.

Sadly, with ever-decreasing episode counts to the seasons and ever-dwindling budgets and ratings, the 26th season of Doctor Who would be the last for the classic series, and Doctor Who would disappear from TV for seven years.

In the clip below, from Remembrance of the Daleks, we get a clip the perfectly encapsulates the melancholy and mysterious tone of the Seventh Doctor's era, where he questions the merits of his grand schemes:

And as an added bonus, here's the final scene from the final episode of the classic series:

See you soon for more classic Who!